great finds at trader joe's

astroglide · #1 05-02-2006, 04:34 PM

i recently ran into the bean, cheese, and rice burrito there. i know it's hard to make that sound special, but this thing is ridiculous. it's in the refrigerated section. 390 calories and a perfect size for lunch.

2 minutes on high to microwave. poke an air hole in it so it doesn't explode. 2 minutes is a perfect cook for it.

the tortilla is amazing, perfectly soft and delicious. you can't get this kind of quality from frozen burritos.

the rice is fine. it's still rice, so don't expect to get your hair blown back by it. it synthesizes great with the other ingredients though.

the beans have awesome flavor and texture. very thick, almost "dry" paste although it's not technically dry.

the utterly fantastic cheese blend is muenster (!) and queso blanco. i'm a big muenster fan, i love it on burgers and i think it's underused.

run, don't walk, to trader joe's and pick one of these up. i've got a lot of stuff i like there and i'll probably be responding to post details on some other items i like. feel free to do the same, i think there are all sorts of hidden gems there. we all know about stuff like the papadum chips and chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels, right?

WayAbvPar · #2 05-02-2006, 04:35 PM

They have a lot of good stuff there. The mushroom pizzas are fantastic, and I really dig their cajun sushi rolls too.

I.Rowboat · #3 05-02-2006, 05:25 PM

Their dry roasted, lightly salted peanuts are very, very good.

Their Mango-Passionfruit juice is also good, but you have to check out the label, which refers to it as "Heart of Darkess Mango Passionfruit Juice", complete with small pictures of helicopters flying over the jungle, straight out of Apocalypse Now. (For those who aren't familiar with that movie, it has a scene in which a character leaves the safety of the boat to go looking for mangos and instead, very suprisingly, gets attacked by a tiger.) Check it out the next time your there...

turnipmonster · #4 05-02-2006, 05:27 PM

I have had these for lunch a lot the past couple of weeks, they are excellent and far better than chipotle.

you know what else is good, is the veggie wraps. this is coming from a man who usually despises wraps of any kind. beans, veggies, cheese, garlic, they're excellent.

--turnipmonster

Luzion · #5 05-02-2006, 05:42 PM

Their Sparkling Blueberry Juice is very good. They also carry chocolate covered peanut butter filled pretzels which are pretty good.

WayAbvPar · #6 05-02-2006, 05:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Their Sparkling Blueberry Juice is very good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ooh good call. That stuff is awesome.

bad beetz · #7 05-03-2006, 03:29 PM

Luz, your animated gif made coffee come out my nose.

El Diablo · #8 05-03-2006, 07:13 PM

All,

I'm gonna make a trip today or tomorrow. I just asked astro for some TJ "classics" I must buy. Gorgonzola gnocchi, burritos, and potstickers are some of mine. Astro mentioned the following:

peanut butter pretzels are amazing
burritos are amazing
papadum chips are good, the masala ones are better
frozen eggplant parmesan
lemongrass chicken rice bowl
gazpacho

I'll report back later.

turnipmonster · #9 05-03-2006, 07:51 PM

I think the nirvana veggie burgers are far superior to any other kind of veggie burger. also the dried berries are awesome.

astroglide · #10 05-04-2006, 02:04 AM

i've only eaten tj's while dieting, so while i've tried a few "bad" things there is a wealth that i have yet to experience. i've tried a ton of things on the lighter side of the house though, and i'm sure it's caused me to find some things i might have overlooked.

the yogurt and chocolate covered blueberries are good. i think probably anything along those lines would be.

they have some amazing chocolate truffles. it's not a product i would normally buy or eat, but they've more or less converted me. you can mix it up by refrigerating them too. when they show up they tend to sell out fast.